# 2024–25 EIHL season

The 2024–25 EIHL season is the 21st season of the Elite Ice Hockey League, the highest level of domestic ice hockey played in the United Kingdom, with three separate competitions played for between September 2024 and April 2025.
Ten teams compete in the league, over a 54-game regular season, with the best eight teams qualifying for the second competition, the playoffs. The playoffs are then held over three knockout rounds with aggregated quarter-finals, and one-off matches for the semi-finals and final – with the last two rounds played over the finals weekend at the Nottingham Arena. Teams also compete in the Challenge Cup, involving group play and one-off knockout rounds to crown its winner.
The defending champion in all three competitions are the Sheffield Steelers, having completed a Grand Slam in 2023–24. The first silverware of the season went to the Belfast Giants, who won the Challenge Cup for the sixth time with a 4–0 victory over the Cardiff Devils.

## Teams

The same ten teams that competed in 2023–24 remained for the 2024–25 season.
| Team | City/Town | Arena | Capacity |
| Belfast Giants | Belfast | SSE Arena Belfast | 8,700 |
| Cardiff Devils | Cardiff | Vindico Arena | 3,088 |
| Coventry Blaze | Coventry | Coventry Skydome | 3,000 |
| Dundee Stars | Dundee | Dundee Ice Arena | 2,400 |
| Fife Flyers | Kirkcaldy | Fife Ice Arena | 3,525 |
| Glasgow Clan | Glasgow | Braehead Arena | 4,000 |
| Guildford Flames | Guildford | Guildford Spectrum | 2,001 |
| Manchester Storm | Altrincham | Altrincham Ice Dome | 2,351 |
| Nottingham Panthers | Nottingham | Motorpoint Arena Nottingham | 7,500 |
| Sheffield Steelers | Sheffield | Utilita Arena Sheffield | 9,300 |

## Regular season
### League standings

Each team plays 54 games, playing each of the other nine teams six times: three times on home ice, and three times away from home. Points are awarded for each game, two points are awarded for all victories, regardless of whether it was in regulation time or after overtime or game-winning shots. One point is awarded for losing in overtime or game-winning shots, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points will be crowned the league champion, and may qualify for the 2025–26 Champions Hockey League. The top eight teams will qualify for the playoffs.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Belfast Giants (Q) | 47 | 28 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 174 | 112 | +62 | 69 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 2 | Sheffield Steelers (Q) | 48 | 29 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 184 | 123 | +61 | 67 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 3 | Nottingham Panthers (Q) | 48 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 164 | 107 | +57 | 66 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 4 | Cardiff Devils (Q) | 47 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 161 | 122 | +39 | 60 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 5 | Coventry Blaze (Q) | 49 | 19 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 160 | 154 | +6 | 54 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 6 | Glasgow Clan | 47 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 148 | 153 | −5 | 51 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 7 | Guildford Flames | 48 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 157 | 155 | +2 | 51 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 8 | Dundee Stars | 49 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 156 | 188 | −32 | 46 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 9 | Manchester Storm | 48 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 27 | 147 | 181 | −34 | 40 | |
| 10 | Fife Flyers (E) | 47 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 41 | 98 | 254 | −156 | 10 | |
* In-season: 1) Points; 2) Fewest games played; end of season criteria as below.
* End of season: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Goal difference; 9) Fewest penalty minutes; 10) Drawing of lots.

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of games played on 16 March 2025. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Alexis D'Aoust | Manchester Storm | 48 | 26 | 33 | 59 | 0 | 28 |
| Chase Gresock | Coventry Blaze | 49 | 28 | 26 | 54 | +8 | 34 |
| Josh MacDonald | Cardiff Devils | 45 | 25 | 27 | 52 | +10 | 12 |
| Alessio Luciani | Coventry Blaze | 49 | 25 | 26 | 51 | +9 | 21 |
| Brendan Harms | Dundee Stars | 49 | 23 | 27 | 50 | −3 | 44 |
| Cole Ully | Glasgow Clan | 44 | 25 | 24 | 49 | +6 | 6 |
| Scott Conway | Belfast Giants | 47 | 23 | 26 | 49 | +30 | 36 |
| Deven Sideroff | Glasgow Clan | 45 | 25 | 23 | 48 | +11 | 55 |
| Zach O'Brien | Cardiff Devils | 40 | 13 | 33 | 46 | +17 | 2 |
| Nick Seitz | Coventry Blaze | 49 | 23 | 22 | 45 | +2 | 53 |

#### Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of games played on 16 March 2025.
| Player | Team(s) | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Jason Grande | Nottingham Panthers | 25 | 1381:37 | 16 | 8 | 40 | 2 | 94.73% | 1.74 |
| Jackson Whistle | Belfast Giants | 24 | 1398:31 | 17 | 6 | 49 | 2 | 92.54% | 2.10 |
| Ryan Bednard | Nottingham Panthers | 23 | 1342:47 | 15 | 7 | 50 | 2 | 92.32% | 2.23 |
| Tom McCollum | Belfast Giants | 24 | 1440:12 | 15 | 9 | 54 | 2 | 91.28% | 2.25 |
| Matt Greenfield | Sheffield Steelers | 43 | 2537:46 | 31 | 12 | 96 | 3 | 92.80% | 2.27 |

## Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup was split into two stages: an initial group stage where the league's ten teams were divided into two groups based on geographical distance – one group of six teams (Group A) and a group of four teams (Group B). The teams in Group A (the five English teams and the Cardiff Devils) played each of the other teams twice for a total of ten games, while the teams in Group B (the three Scottish teams and the Belfast Giants) played each of the other teams four times for a total of twelve games.
The top two teams in Group A and the winners of Group B qualified for the semi-finals. The runners-up in Group B faced the third-placed team in Group A in a one-off game, held at the arena of the team with a higher group stage points percentage, to determine the final semi-finalist.

### Group stage
#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sheffield Steelers | 10 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 30 | +8 | 16 | Qualification to semi-finals |
| 2 | Cardiff Devils | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 42 | 32 | +10 | 13 | Qualification to semi-finals |
| 3 | Nottingham Panthers | 10 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 13 | Qualification to play-in match |
| 4 | Coventry Blaze | 10 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 32 | 35 | −3 | 12 | |
| 5 | Manchester Storm | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 32 | 38 | −6 | 9 | |
| 6 | Guildford Flames | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 23 | 35 | −12 | 5 | |

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Belfast Giants | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 49 | 24 | +25 | 21 | Qualification to semi-finals |
| 2 | Glasgow Clan | 12 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 40 | 34 | +6 | 15 | Qualification to play-in match |
| 3 | Dundee Stars | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 38 | 41 | −3 | 9 | |
| 4 | Fife Flyers | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 28 | 56 | −28 | 7 | |

### Knockout stage
#### Bracket

| Play-in match(January 2025) | Play-in match(January 2025) | Play-in match(January 2025) | Semi-finals(February 2025) | Semi-finals(February 2025) | Semi-finals(February 2025) | Semi-finals(February 2025) | Semi-finals(February 2025) | Final(March 2025) | Final(March 2025) | Final(March 2025) |
| | | | 1 | Belfast Giants | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Nottingham Panthers | 5 | 4 | Nottingham Panthers | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Glasgow Clan | 1 | | | | | | 1 | Belfast Giants | 4 |
| | | | | | | | | 3 | Cardiff Devils | 0 |
| | | | 2 | Sheffield Steelers | 5 | 1 | 6 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Cardiff Devils | 3 | 4 | 7 | | | |

#### Semi-finals

As the highest seed from the group stage, the Belfast Giants selected the Nottingham Panthers to be their semi-final opponents, with the Sheffield Steelers taking on the Cardiff Devils as a result of this.

##### (1) Belfast Giants vs. (4) Nottingham Panthers

* Belfast Giants win 3–2 on aggregate.

##### (2) Sheffield Steelers vs. (3) Cardiff Devils

* Cardiff Devils win 7–6 on aggregate.

#### Final

As the highest remaining seed, the Belfast Giants had home advantage for the final against the Cardiff Devils.

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the Challenge Cup. If two or more skaters are tied (i.e. same number of points, goals and played games), all of the tied skaters are shown.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Jordan Kawaguchi | Belfast Giants | 14 | 8 | 11 | 19 | +12 | 4 |
| Mark Cooper | Belfast Giants | 15 | 9 | 8 | 17 | +8 | 6 |
| Chase Gresock | Coventry Blaze | 10 | 7 | 9 | 16 | +8 | 16 |
| Deven Sideroff | Glasgow Clan | 13 | 8 | 7 | 15 | +8 | 6 |
| Scott Conway | Belfast Giants | 12 | 5 | 10 | 15 | +10 | 10 |
| Mitchell Heard | Glasgow Clan | 13 | 3 | 12 | 15 | +9 | 55 |
| Cole Sanford | Cardiff Devils | 12 | 11 | 3 | 14 | +4 | 8 |
| Phélix Martineau | Fife Flyers | 12 | 7 | 7 | 14 | −5 | 6 |
| Ryan Hughes | Manchester Storm | 10 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −4 | 6 |
| J. J. Piccinich | Belfast Giants | 15 | 6 | 7 | 13 | +12 | 2 |

#### Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the Challenge Cup.
| Player | Team(s) | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Jackson Whistle | Belfast Giants | 10 | 605:51 | 8 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 94.30% | 1.49 |
| Ryan Bednard | Nottingham Panthers | 6 | 356:03 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 92.57% | 2.19 |
| Landon Bow | Glasgow Clan | 8 | 480:04 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 1 | 91.39% | 2.87 |
| Matt Greenfield | Sheffield Steelers | 10 | 605:03 | 8 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 89.18% | 2.88 |
| Mac Carruth | Cardiff Devils | 7 | 367:56 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 89.71% | 2.94 |